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I’ve been fairly quiet on here recently, and I’m not entirely sure that it’s going to change. But it might, never know. That said, I thought I’d let people know where I’ve been the last month or so, and what I’ve been up to.

The first is that since the last day in May, I have been gainfully employed. After two years getting my MBA, actually have a paycheck, and thus money, was a strange and unusual occurrence. I could purchase things simply for pleasure, rather than otherwise. Given it coincided more or less with Borders’ going out of business, this means that I am now the owner of rather too many books. Too many more books, I should say. As you can see to the right.

As an addendum to the job front, I am now in the housing market. This is a strange experience, and would represent the first property I own entirely on my own. It’s been an interesting journey, and I’m now somewhere on house 40+, in terms of those seen, but I do appear to have finally found one or two that I like. So I may, just may, have a place to call my own before the end of the year.

This would do wonders for my writing, for right now I commute an hour and fifteen either way each day. The job is worth it, but I can’t wait until I get a place an hour closer, and get two hours back each day. At least one of those hours could likely be spent on writing, and what a boon that would be for my storytelling.

On the subject of my storytelling, there are a few bits and pieces going around. I have been interviewed by the wonderful Alex Laybourne, who is entirely too kind. If you have even a moment to pop over there, please do, and show support to a friend of indie writers. Later this week, he’ll have a guest post from me on how I create worlds, and specifically where The Four Part Land came from.

Finally, and this will appear in a separate post soon enough, Breaking an Empire is starting to crop up on shelves today. It’s on Amazon and Smashwords, and I’m just waiting for it to hit Barnes and Noble before having a nice big announcement.

There’s also a few contests that just might be kicking off soon around these parts, so keep those eyes peeled. And now, back to my rather boring life.

A great many things were decided that day. Who would live, who would die, and who could slip away. I was one of the luck ones, those who managed to steal into the night before the decisions were made.

You see, ‘live’ is hardly the term that it should be. Being forced to marry, to have children and then give them up, to live in a tiny cubicle under constant observation… Yeah, barely ‘living’.

Most of us who disappeared wanted to do nothing to help those who’d been stuck. Me? I thought I should, but the only thing I could do was walk in there with a bomb strapped to my chest. Death is a kind of freedom, I suppose.

I wasn’t looking to die though, so I sat on my hands and waited until a better idea came along. And like all of my brilliant ideas, it came at a bar, on a Saturday, at 2am, with a screwdriver in my hand. Double strength, naturally.

The next morning, after sleeping off my hangover, I set to work. But I needed a few other people for the job. Many hands make light work and all that crap. No, I needed an electronics expert to do some of the soldering. And a couple gunmen, but they were easy to find. They come in lots down at the five and dime.

So, couple weeks go, and we’re ready. Truck’s loaded, gears all in the back. Guess who doesn’t show? Yeah, my little friend with the soldering gun. We give him ten minutes, and then run for it. We all knew he’d turned us in.

Turns out I got the furthest, which was three blocks. Then a tranq dart took me in the right shoulder. Never even felt my jaw break as it hit the pavement.

Stuck in the hospital while I wait for my damn jaw to work again. Really funny that the guy who shot me came by and apologized. Me, a criminal, and him being sorry because he accidentally broke my jaw. This place is too damn nice.

And then I ended up back at the damn baby farm. Forced to marry, and locked in a cubicle. Of course, they didn’t tell me who I was married to, because they were still trying to figure it out themselves.

But then I wake up one day with a cute little Polynesian girl nestled in my arms. Maybe trying to get babies on her won’t be so bad…